Towards the Sun
by Yue's Lady
Summary: What if the Kyuubi was sealed inside Hyuuga Hinata? A story of how Hinata meets a certain blondehaired boy who leads her out of the darkness and her struggle to find herself. Hinatacentric. Alternate Universe. Rated for future chapters.
1. Glance

**Towards the Sun**

Blurb / Plot Summary:

What if the Kyuubi had been sealed within Hyuuga Hinata?

Notes:

This is an AU fic.

While this will generally (loosely) follow the established plotline of Naruto, the main focus will be on Hinata and how she copes as the carrier of the Kyuubi. Obviously some events will change, and there will be minor changes to some characters, since this is AU.

There will be romance, but the pairing is undecided. Perhaps this can be voted on by the readers?

Warnings:

There will be slight OOC-ness. There will be some changes to main plot events. There will be some toying with the timeline. This fic is Hinata-centric. There will be sprinklings of Japanese words. All techniques and similar will be called by their Japanese names, like Kyuubi or Byakugan rather than Nine-Tailed Fox or White Eyes, unless I don't know what the Japanese version is.

Standard disclaimer applies.

**Chapter One – Glance**

"Look, it's that child."

"The Kyuubi?"

"She's so useless."

"No talent for the Byakugan at all."

"She'll never amount to anything."

"Hush, she's coming this way!"

* * *

Wet. Salty. Bitter. 

Hyuuga Hinata knew the taste of tears more intimately than the back of her hand.

"It's not my fault," she whispered to herself as the tears continued to roll down her cheeks. "It's not my fault."

They all looked at her with those eyes.

Cold eyes.

Eyes that blamed her for something she had no control over.

Eyes that feared her.

Eyes that scorned her.

Eyes that wished she'd disappear.

"It's not my fault."

Her voice trembled.

She had to keep saying it to herself. She had to remember that.

Because if she didn't, she'd break.

And if she broke, no one would put her back together.

No one.

* * *

"Oi, get back here!" shouted one of the Chuunin at a mischievous blonde boy with bright blue eyes, with smooth, unmarred cheeks. 

"As if! Catch me if you can!" jeered the boy as he leaped onto the rooftops, dashing away with his can of paint.

The Chuunin cursed creatively and leaped after him.

"Get back here, NARUTO!"

* * *

Hinata shuffled along in the middle of the afternoon crowd, keeping her head down so her long dark bangs covered her face, and tugged the hood of her jacket lower. 

It was her daily ritual to walk among the people of Konoha in the busy little shopping area. There'd be a lot of noise, a lot of color, a lot of warmth.

No one would notice her, or her worn jacket, or her fraying sandals.

She could blend in and watch them do mundane things like buy dinner ingredients or clothes. She could watch people talk and laugh with each other, and kiss their children on the forehead.

She could forget, even for just a little while, that there were no cold, accusing eyes. That she was a normal girl.

That there wasn't a monster sealed inside of her.

A shout broke into her thoughts.

"Hey! Make way!"

* * *

"Dammit, Iruka-sensei's gaining on me," Naruto muttered, making a face as he dashed towards the afternoon crowds swarming around the shops. He'd lose him in the crowd and then get rid of the paint can to escape. 

Suddenly a girl with dark hair under a hood stepped into his path, looking at something behind her. Unfortunately for him, he still had too much momentum, and he was about to run her over.

"Hey! Make way!" Naruto yelled, but it was too late.

He barreled straight into the girl, the paint can arcing into the air and almost landing on some unfortunate passersby.

* * *

Hinata was staring into the brightest, bluest, warmest eyes she had ever seen. 

Like the sky.

Then she realized where she was and what just happened.

"G-g-gomen nasai!" she stuttered, and scrambled to get out of his personal space, her head bowing automatically in apology.

She took another glance at the boy with the blue eyes.

If Hinata had to describe him, she'd use the word 'vibrant'. Nothing about this boy was dull. His hair was a bright gold like the sun, his eyes blue like the sky, his lightly tanned skin with a healthy glow. Even his clothes were bright orange.

He was looking at her, a puzzled expression on his face.

She lowered her gaze quickly, waiting for the inevitable anger and scorn that he would throw at her for being in the way.

"Are you okay?"

* * *

Author's Note: Please leave a review :) 


	2. Connection

Notes:

First of all, many thanks to those who reviewed, and also those who didn't review but put me on Author Alert or Favorite Stories. You all know who you are.

Secondly, please don't get confused if you suddenly get a whole heap of Alerts in your email inbox despite only one new chapter. I'm just not happy about the spacing that imposes on my stories, so I'll be fiddling around and seeing what I can do to improve the look of the chapters.

Anyhow, without further ado, please enjoy the second chapter of Towards the Sun.

**Chapter Two - Connection**

Naruto was staring into the palest eyes he had ever seen.

Eyes that looked right back at him. Eyes like clouds on a summer's day.

Then those pale eyes widened and she backed away quickly, stuttering an apology in the softest voice he had ever heard and then bowing low to the ground.

Naruto blinked. Anyone else would have yelled at him or at least snapped at him for running into them.

This girl was…weird.

If Naruto had to describe her, he would have likened her to a wounded puppy. Especially when she lifted her head slightly and then quickly lowered her head again as if she were afraid of being punished for looking at him.

"Are you okay?"

Naruto held out his hand.

* * *

Hinata's eyes widened, not believing her ears. 

Was she hallucinating?

She saw his hand move and flinched, waiting for the blow she knew would come.

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

She lifted her head and saw his hand outstretched. Not to hit her, but to help her.

It wasn't a hallucination.

She stared at his hand, hesitating.

Taking a deep breath, she took it.

"Now I've got you, Naruto!" yelled a voice from behind them.

"Oh crap! Iruka-sensei's caught up!" The boy with the blonde hair yelped, his hand gripping tighter around hers before pulling her into the crowd.

They tumbled through the crowd of people, Hinata feeling bewildered as he pulled her along, staring at the back of his orange jacket.

His hand was warm.

They broke through the crowd and the boy led them into a thicket of trees. They kept running, running, running, until Hinata couldn't feel her feet anymore and it was like they were flying.

The wind whipped across her face, chasing her bangs away from her eyes and the scar on her cheek.

Blood pounded in her ears and her chest, and she felt warm for the first time in her life.

She felt alive.

They broke through the thicket and both yelped when they realized the ground gave way to a downward slope and their momentum sent them tumbling down the grassy hill. They both roll to a stop at the bottom, breathless and sprawled on the grass.

They look at each other, grass and weeds and flowers tangled in their hair and clothes.

He grins.

She doesn't know it, but her mouth had already curved into a wide smile.

Soon they're laughing breathlessly because the adrenaline is still pumping inside them, and they have to let it go somehow.

And for the first time in her life, Hinata doesn't feel alone.

* * *

Iruka muttered irritably to himself about troublemaking adolescent boys who totally did not deserve the ramen they were treated to on an entirely too frequent basis. 

And he could have sworn he just saw Naruto running off with a GIRL.

There was no way in hell he was letting Naruto get a girlfriend at this age.

Iruka refused to listen to the little voice at the back of his head that said he was doing the mothering thing again.

"Now where did he go?" Iruka said to himself as he scanned the crowd and the surrounding area for Naruto's presence.

* * *

"So what's your name?" the boy asked. 

"Hi-Hinata…" she stammered quietly.

"Well I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Pleased to meet you!"

"M-me too."

They sat side by side on the grassy banks of the hill, looking up at the sun, warm and comforting on their faces.

"Hinata, do you have any dreams?"

She turned to look at him. "…Dreams?"

Naruto nodded, his eyes bright and determined. "My dream is to become Hokage, a Hokage that will surpass all the ones that came before."

"W-why?" Hinata asked.

"I want to become strong, so I can protect the people that are important to me. I want all the villagers to acknowledge me as a leader, not a prankster. Even though that's loads of fun too," Naruto grinned mischievously.

Hinata smiled shyly. "T-that's a good dream."

"Really? You think so? Everyone laughs at me when I tell them that."

"I think…I think Naruto-kun will become a great Hokage," Hinata said with a slight blush, but proud that she barely stammered this time.

Naruto's smile grew even wider if possible, and even more radiant. "Thank you, Hinata!"

"You should think about passing your exams before even thinking about becoming Hokage, Naruto," said a decidedly pissed off voice from behind them.

"Oh, shit."

Iruka hauled Naruto to his feet by the ear. "Painting graffiti all over the Hokage statues, huh? I'm going to make you clean up every single paint speck even if it takes you all day."

"They're just statues. It's not like I'm hurting anyone." Naruto made a face. Iruka's eye twitched.

"No more ramen for you then," Iruka hissed.

"Hey! That's a cheap shot!" Naruto whined, but admitted defeat in the face of ramen-deprivation. "Fine, fine, I'll go scrub the statues."

"U-um," Hinata interrupted timidly, trying not to let her gaze drop. "If…if it's okay, m-may I help Naruto-kun?"

* * *

Iruka was quite surprised to see the girl volunteering to help Naruto. He was even more surprised when he realized who she was - Hyuuga Hinata, the child that the Fourth Hokage had sealed the Kyuubi within. Memories of his parents dying in the fight against the Kyuubi surfaced to the front of his mind. 

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he crouched down so he was eye level with her.

"You are?" he asked, pretending not to know who she was. He didn't miss the look of relief that crossed her face.

"H-Hinata."

He saw the pointed tips of her ears that she tried to hide with her hair. He saw the scar lurking behind her bangs, just an inch below her left eye.

"How old are you?"

The scar was neat, straight and deep. Iruka was no medic ninja, but he had seen enough wounds during his time as Chuunin to be able to make an educated guess.

"Um…t-twelve."

It was a kunai wound, and the angle, depth and length of the cut showed that it was definitely no accident.

Bile rose in his throat when he realized that someone had held down a helpless child in order to do this.

He stood back upright. "Tell ya what, Naruto. Since I'm feeling generous today, I'll treat you and Hinata-chan to some ramen as soon as we're all done cleaning up those statues."

Naruto was beyond ecstatic. "YES! Thank you, Iruka-sensei!" he whooped, jumping up and running over to Hinata. "C'mon, let's hurry and clean the paint off and then we can go eat at Ichiraku!"

* * *

It was well into the evening when they finally removed the numerous paintings of swirls, circles, trails of paint snot, and painted dog poop off the Hokage statues. Naruto and Hinata had had a good chuckle (or giggle) over the giant nose ring he had painted on the Third Hokage. 

Soon they arrived at the brightly lit stall of Ichiraku, and Naruto all but leaped inside, eagerly ordering. Iruka was about to go inside as well, but he saw Hinata stop at the invisible boundary of the overhanging flaps.

She looked apprehensive.

Another pang of sympathy struck Iruka. Amongst adults, especially ninjas, it was no secret that Hyuuga Hinata was the Kyuubi. It was not hard to imagine the poor child being refused service, or charged double.

He crouched down again so he was on eye level with her.

"Hinata-chan, it's okay. The owner, Teuchi-san, is a good man. And besides, Naruto and I are here. It'll be okay." Iruka smiled reassuringly, reflexively reaching out to pat her head, as he always did when he needed to reassure Naruto.

She flinched. Iruka felt like kicking himself.

"Ah, you probably don't want to patted at this age, especially by someone like me," Iruka said sheepishly, starting to withdraw his hand. "I'm sorry."

"T-that's n-not true," Hinata stuttered out. "I-it's just…no one h-has ever p-p-patted me on the h-head before."

Years of teaching children should have toughened Iruka against forlorn, pleading eyes, but Iruka all but succumbed to those sad, pale orbs.

He reached out again, slowly, slowly, watching her trying not to flinch, gently resting the palm of his hand on her hair, and slowly patted her head.

"It's…warm," Hinata said. "Like Naruto-kun."

As if on cue, Naruto poked his head out from inside. "C'mon, ojisan is waiting! If you don't come in soon, I'll order _everything_ from the menu," Naruto grinned evilly at Iruka.

"Why you little-," Iruka said, getting back upright. "Come on, Hinata-chan, we have to control that little troublemaker."

He looked at Hinata, his hand still on her head. "Let's go in."

Hinata looked up at him. And nodded.

* * *

Author's Note: Please leave a review :) 


	3. Reminder

Notes:

Once again, thanks to those who reviewed and/or put me on their Alerts. This chapter took a while to write because it refused to end itself. I've edited and re-edited this chapter so many times it's frustrating, but I suppose this is the best I could make it.

Please enjoy.

**Chapter Three – Reminder**

It was dawn.

Hinata's eyes drifted open and she turned her head to look at the clock. 5:48 am. Too early to get up but too late to go back to sleep.

She got up, put away her blanket and futon into the tiny closet behind her, and pulled on her jacket.

She slipped outside her room and moved silently along the corridors towards the bathroom to wash her face. She turned on the faucet and splashed cold water onto her face before drying herself off with the edge of her sleeve. She avoided looking into the mirror as she left the bathroom.

And almost walked into Hyuuga Neji.

_Oh god_.

The chilling look on his face sent tendrils of fear down her spine, and it was like she was trapped under the gaze of a snake.

"Well if it isn't Hinata-sama," Neji said with a smile completely devoid of humor, the intensity of his contempt holding her gaze firmly.

"N-N-Neji-n-niisan," Hinata squeaked, frozen on the spot. She didn't know why, but Neji terrified her. He was different to the rest of the Hyuuga. While they all hated her, there was always that fear in their eyes as well, as if she would manifest as the Kyuubi and kill them. But Neji…Neji seemed to have a different hatred.

Hinata didn't know why Neji hated her so much. Nor did she know why he looked at her that way.

With killing intent.

Forcing herself to break eye contact, she fled, running down the corridor, her blood pounding in her ears. She barely stopped to pick up her worn sandals and pulled them on quickly before getting out of the Hyuuga compound as fast as she could.

* * *

"Hinata's late," Naruto said to himself, leaning against a tree near the Ninja Academy, scratching the back of his head as he looked around, wondering if he missed her somewhere. 

Crowds of new Academy students were milling around the Academy buildings, their parents in tow. Crowds of boys were boasting about how many shuriken they had already thrown, or how they would graduate first, and groups of girls were giggling about all the cute boys enrolled this year. Parents were flattering other parents by commenting on how cute, tall, or smart their child was.

A look of envy crossed Naruto's face. He had no idea who his parents were. The closest thing he had to a parent was Iruka, but Iruka was often busy and they weren't able to spend as much time together as they liked.

"U-um…sorry to keep you waiting," said a soft voice from behind him.

Naruto turned around, his train of thought interrupted. "Hinata! Mou, what kept you?"

Hinata smiled weakly. "N-nothing, I just um…overslept."

"But today's the entrance ceremony," Naruto pouted for a moment, but his carefree grin soon returned. "Oh well, at least you're here."

Hinata smiled in relief. Naruto wasn't angry. They started walking towards the Academy building when Naruto slowed.

"Oh, yeah, uh…where are your parents?" Naruto asked.

Hinata stilled.

"My father's…busy."

"Then what about your mom?"

"…My mother died giving birth to me."

Naruto stared at Hinata, feeling kind of bad. "Sorry I asked."

Hinata shook her head. "…It's okay."

A silence passed between them.

"Well I guess that makes the two of us without parents then," Naruto said with a wry grin, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

Hinata looked at Naruto questioningly, but she was unable to ask when the entrance ceremony started and the Third Hokage stepped forward to give his speech.

* * *

"Hey look!" 

"Isn't that-?"

"It is."

"I can't believe they let her enroll."

"She's a Hyuuga, they wouldn't dare to refuse a member of that family."

"I hope my children stay away from her."

"Shhh! Sandaime Hokage-sama is about to speak!"

* * *

Naruto frowned when he heard whispers and muttering from behind them, and wondered who the heck they were talking about. 

Hinata's heart thudded loudly in her chest. She wanted to sink into the floor and prayed that no one would mention her given name. The thought of Naruto knowing who she really was, knowing why the adults kept giving her dirty looks, made her feel ill.

She couldn't bear the thought of the first person who had ever shown her kindness looking at her in the same hateful way as everyone else did.

Having finally experienced true warmth in so long, the prospect of loneliness that threatened to swallow her again was terrifying.

* * *

"…a great tradition of producing some of the strongest shinobi in the Fire Country…" said the Third Hokage as he continued the age-old tradition of obligatory long speeches that were possibly part of the job description for any leader of significance. 

Iruka craned his neck slightly, looking for a familiar blonde-haired boy in the crowd.

When Iruka finally spotted him, Naruto was falling asleep on his feet and quite obviously snoring, if Hinata's panicked face and none too discreet attempts to wake him were anything to go by.

Iruka had the urge to bury his face in his hands and groan loudly because that was such a Naruto thing to do.

* * *

When the ceremony was over, the parents took their leave, but not without some discreetly unpleasant glances thrown Hinata's way and whispered words of warning to their respective children. 

Three Chuunin including Iruka then made their way to the front, forming a line in front of the podium and the Third Hokage, facing the students.

"As you know, you will be divided into three classes, each one taught by one of our best Chuunin," the Hokage began, gesturing towards the three Chuunin in front of him, "From your left is Uraha-sensei, Mizuki-sensei and Iruka-sensei. When I call your name, you will form an orderly line in front of your designated instructor."

A chorus of "hai" echoed inside the hall.

"The following will be joining Uraha-sensei's class – Atou Yuya, Itou Seki…"

* * *

"…Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke…" 

Naruto punched the air in triumph when his name was called for Iruka's class, and he went to join the line, almost knocking over a surly looking boy with dark hair.

Hinata fervently hoped she would end up in the same class as Naruto.

"…Nara Shikamaru, Haruno Sakura…"

_Please…please let me be in Naruto-kun's class…_

"…Maki Tenten…and Yamanaka Ino," said the Hokage. "The remainder of you will be joining Mizuki-sensei's class then."

Hinata's face fell, and her hopes plummeted somewhere beyond her feet. She wasn't going to be in Naruto's class, or even Iruka's. She reluctantly shuffled into Mizuki's line with the rest of her new class, taking a small comfort in the fact that Naruto looked disappointed when she wasn't in Iruka's class with him.

* * *

"So our first lesson today is to learn some of the history and basic principles of ninja," said Mizuki from the front as he wrote some notes on the chalkboard. "Can anyone define what exactly is a ninja?" 

Many hands shot into the air.

"You, ah, Nanahara-kun, what's your definition?" Mizuki asked.

"A ninja is a warrior that uses ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu to complete missions and earn money for their village and nation," Nanahara said confidently, clearly having pre-read the textbook.

"Very good," Mizuki nodded. "Now I want you to take out your textbooks and read the first chapter on the history of Konohagakure."

The students complied, reaching into their bags for their history books, all shiny, glossy and new.

Except one.

"You over there, where's your book?" Mizuki said with a frown at the pale girl with long dark bangs all over her face. She flinched at being called out.

"Well?" he prompted, feeling a twinge of impatience.

She mumbled too softly to be heard by anyone not within a meter of her. He raised an eyebrow and walked up the steps to the very back where she was sitting by herself.

"Where are your books?" Mizuki repeated himself.

"I-I…d-d-don't have t-them," she stuttered nervously.

"What's your name?

The girl hesitated. "H-Hyuuga Hinata…"

* * *

Hinata was made to clean the basement after academy hours as punishment for not bringing her books. She was shut inside a dark room for an hour and given a bucket, a scrubbing brush, and a scalding hot mixture of lye and water and fumes that made her feel lightheaded. 

The agony in her hands kept Hinata awake that night. As she lay there with her hands throbbing underneath layers of yellowing bandages, she thought of Naruto.

* * *

The pain had faded to a raw tingling when morning came. She removed the bandages and stared at her blistered hands. 

Hinata was very familiar with blisters. There was a large scar on the bottom of her right foot that had once been a infected blister and it wasn't until she had started bleeding all over the floors of the Hyuuga compound that they had reluctantly given her a new pair of shoes to replace the ones that were too small.

Shaking her head, she re-bandaged her hands with a slow awkwardness and her teeth so she didn't have to touch anything directly, and headed for the Academy.

Naruto was waiting.

* * *

Author's Note: Please review :) It makes me happy. And happy authors write faster. 


	4. Temptation

Notes:

Yep, it's another update. Many thanks to the reviewers and the people who still aren't reviewing but putting me on Alerts and Favorites. I'm glad people are reading this. Anyway, please enjoy.

**Chapter Four – Temptation**

"Not clean enough," Mizuki said icily.

It was the seventh day that he had sent the girl to clean the basement.

Her fingers were starting to bleed through her yellowed bandages. The lye had finally eaten its way through her skin.

Most hands would have been corroded clean off by the second day, but Mizuki had forgotten that the Kyuubi's chakra would heal her.

It had taken a while, calculating the dose of lye. It had to be strong enough, yet not so strong as to draw unnecessary attention.

She had cried out from pain on the sixth day, music to his ears. The Kyuubi didn't deserve any mercy after all. No, the Kyuubi deserved to suffer, like Tsubaki did twelve years ago.

* * *

Hinata winced as she dropped her chopsticks yet again. Her fingers burned. Her palms burned. 

"Hinata, what's wrong with your hands?" Naruto asked worriedly, looking up from his mouthful of ramen.

_If I tell him the truth, then he'll confront Mizuki-sensei…and then he'll know about the Kyuubi…_

"Um…I…um…s-sprained my hands," Hinata lied, smiling weakly.

Naruto slurped on his ramen, looking rather skeptical.

"R-really, I'm okay," Hinata said, even though her chopsticks clattered onto the table again because her fingers couldn't grip them properly.

* * *

Naruto gulped down the last of his soup noisily while he peered over the rim of the bowl at Hinata struggling to use her chopsticks. 

She was lying. He didn't know how or why, but he knew she was lying.

Hinata winced again. Naruto could see sweat beading along what he could see of her forehead, and he could see her labored breathing. As much as he was unhappy about her lying, she was genuinely in pain.

And Naruto was anything but cruel.

He reached over and took the chopsticks from her bandaged hands and pulled the bowl a little closer. He then dipped the chopsticks into the bowl and pulled some of the ramen up onto Hinata's spoon.

He held out the spoon awkwardly. "Here, I'll feed you, since you can't even hold a spoon right now," he said.

* * *

Hinata's eyes widened. 

"…Naruto-kun…"

Naruto wiggled the spoon slightly. "Come on, open up. I can't let you starve to death," Naruto grinned jokingly. "And we can't let perfectly good ramen go to waste."

He was so gentle. He made every consideration for her, right down to how much ramen she could take in a mouthful, or how hot the soup still was.

She was so happy yet scared at the same time. Happy that she had this moment. Scared that this might be the last.

Trusting someone was terrifying.

Hinata felt a deep, inexplicable urge to cry.

* * *

Hinata writhed in agony on the cold wooden floors of her room. 

The bleeding wouldn't stop. The burning wouldn't stop. Hinata bit into the folded rag she normally used to wash, so her cries of pain wouldn't carry beyond the walls.

Help wouldn't come even if she screamed.

She thought of Naruto, her limp hair spread over her shoulders and sticking to the streaks of blood on the floor.

* * *

Naruto was absent the next day. 

Mizuki had knocked over the bucket of lye and water, angry for some reason that Hinata couldn't fathom. The lye and water splashed onto her legs, seeping into the gap between her pants and the top of her sandals, and onto her bare toes.

He refused to let her go until she had mopped up the spill, her progress painfully slow because she couldn't breathe properly due to the fumes and her hands were dripping blood onto the floor.

* * *

It took her half an hour to change her bandages, and she willed herself not to vomit when she saw muscle underneath the blood and strips of skin. 

She bandaged herself again, hoping that they would last long enough so she could visit Naruto and see if he was okay.

She walked along the streets that led towards the apartment complex that Naruto lived and pulled her hood lower even though her hands burned like fire.

"Ne, ne, okaasan, let's get some dango," said a girl who holding a stack of books. The girl's mother nodded indulgingly and went inside. The girl went over to a bench outside the dango shop and put down her books.

"Takako, would you bring me my purse?" said her mother's voice from inside the shop. The girl rummaged in the bag on top of her books and ran inside to give her mother the purse.

Hinata looked at the glossy books on the bench. They were Academy books.

"_For every day you don't bring your books, you're going to clean the basement after academy hours."_

Hinata stared at the books, her pale eyes trailing towards the bag. Silk.

"_Clean faster!" Mizuki spat. "You're completely useless."_

Would they miss the books? Hinata's heart thudded in her chest at the prospect of relief from the burning pain in her hands.

"_You're just a monster."_

It's not like she wanted to hurt anyone. Was it so much to ask to have a set of books? Or a pair of sandals? It's not like she hadn't already been punished all her life for something she didn't do, or even had a choice in.

"_Look, it's _that_ child."_

Bitterness flooded her thoughts. "It's not my fault," she whispered to herself.

Images of cold, uncaring eyes floated to the front of her mind. Mizuki's rage. Neji's hatred. The pain in her hands. The pain in her right foot from three years ago. The pain in her left cheek. The flash of a kunai. The feel of metal cutting into her flesh. The vengeful whispers of a voice from so many years ago.

"It's not my fault," she whispered to herself.

The books were only a meter away.

* * *

Author's Notes: 

Please review :)


	5. Truth

Notes:

Relatively long chapter ahead. If you're reading this fic, I love you. If you're reviewing this fic, I really, really love you. If you flame me…well…hmm. Oh well.

If you hadn't already noticed, I've made Mizuki rather different to canon Mizuki. Anyway, here's the newest chapter.

**Chapter Five – Truth**

Takako danced out of the dango shop with her skewer of bocchan-dango, eagerly popping the first pink dumpling into her mouth and chewing happily. Her mother had already left the shop to go and buy groceries before the markets closed.

Takako hummed as she swallowed, skipping towards the bench where she had left her books, and blinked.

The bench was empty.

* * *

Naruto sneezed loudly and messily. 

"Stupid, stupid, stupid cold," he croaked, sticking his hand out from under the covers and fumbling across the bedside table for his box of tissues. He blew his nose for the umpteenth time and chucked the screwed-up tissue towards the overflowing bin in the corner.

"Now I'm going to fall behind that Sasuke jerk again in shuriken practice," Naruto grumbled past his blocked nose, burying himself under the covers again.

_Stupid Kiba, why'd he have to go passing on the cold for?_

* * *

**Weak.**

**So weak.**

**If you'd just let me out, I could have killed him for you.**

**Now you're reduced to stealing.**

_Stay out of my head!_

Hinata sat huddled at the foot of a tree, sobbing as she clapped her hands over her ears, trying to shut out its voice.

_What have I done?_

Hinata buried her face into her knees, overwhelmed with guilt.

"…None of it was my fault," Hinata whispered against the worn fabric of her pants. "But this…_this_ is my fault."

The glossy covers of the Academy books looked coldly up at her.

Like cold, pale eyes.

* * *

Hyuuga Hinata did not return home that night. 

No one bothered to notice.

* * *

Mizuki put on his hitai-ate in front of the mirror and glanced at the upper left edge. 

A fading picture was wedged under the frame. He ran his fingertips over the woman in the photo. She was smiling radiantly at him, dressed in her favorite red and white dress, her long dark hair bound in her usual long braid.

"Tsubaki…"

Twelve years ago, he had proposed to her and they had even planned for their wedding.

"_Ne, Mizuki, let's have the wedding in the spring."_

"_But that's half a year away…don't you want us to be married sooner?"_

_She leaned against him, smiling peacefully. "I want us to be married in that grassy field on the hill, where you first told me you loved me. I want us to be surrounded by blooming flowers so we're always reminded of hope for the future whenever we look back on our wedding day."_

Tsubaki hadn't lived to see that spring.

* * *

It was lunchtime at the Academy, and Naruto couldn't find Hinata anywhere. 

"That's weird…" Naruto thought, scratching the back of his head. "Maybe Hinata's sick too."

"Oi, Naruto, hurry up! We're gonna start the game now," Kiba yelled from across the playground. "Are you playing or what?"

"Yeah, I'm playing! Don't get your panties in a bunch." Naruto started running back towards Kiba, Chouji and Shikamaru.

He'd go and visit Hinata when classes were over.

* * *

Hinata wondered vaguely what Hell was like. 

Her hands were now bleeding freely onto the grass, and her heart was beating faster, attempting to compensate for her slowing blood circulation. Her legs were blistering as the lye ate away at her skin.

Even if Hinata could still move, she no longer had the will to move. She had already done what she could to atone.

"…Naruto-kun…" she murmured to herself. _Would you be ashamed of me if you saw me now?_

_Or would you still be my friend?_

* * *

Naruto said bye to his friends as the rest of them started heading home, and started running in the direction of the Hyuuga compound. Hinata never told him her family name, but he had taken a peek at her enrolment form when they were filling theirs in together. 

It took Naruto a good fifteen minutes to get to the Hyuuga compound. He took a moment to catch his breath. It certainly hadn't been hard to miss.

He stared at the tall, imposing white walls with gray roof tiles and the closed, wide wooden gate. At the top of the gate were the kanji characters for Hyuuga in precise calligraphy.

_What a dull looking place…_Naruto made a face as he went up to the gate and prepared to knock.

"State your name and purpose," said a voice from nowhere.

_Okay, that was just creepy._ "Uh…Uzumaki Naruto. I'm here to see Hinata," he said awkwardly. He wondered whether he should talk to the gate or the wall.

There was a _very_ long silence.

The gate opened slightly, and a boy with long dark hair and pale eyes came out.

The boy stared at Naruto with mild disdain. "Hinata-sama," the boy sneered a little as he said it, "is not here."

This guy had barely said two sentences to him and he was already getting on Naruto's nerves.

"Then where is she?" Naruto asked as evenly as he could.

The boy shrugged. "Who knows."

Naruto decided this guy was not worth being polite to anymore, and turned to leave.

"You should stay away from her."

Naruto turned back around. "Why should I?"

The boy looked at Naruto as if he thought Naruto was the stupidest person in the world. "She has the Kyuubi sealed inside her."

* * *

Hinata realized she wasn't dead when someone kicked her awake. 

Hard.

Her eyes struggled to focus as she clutched her smarting shoulder. Silver hair…It was Mizuki.

"M-Mizuki-sensei…"

"Playing truant, are we?" His face was contorted with hatred as he kicked her in the face.

Hinata could taste blood on her tongue.

**Fight back.**

…_No._

Hinata screamed when Mizuki stepped on her right hand, the pain searing through her body, her blood splattering onto his sandals and her face from the impact.

* * *

"So what?" Naruto said bluntly. 

"Do you even know what the Kyuubi is?" the boy said, beginning to scowl.

"Of course I do. It's the demon fox that attacked Konoha. So what?"

"Thousands died because of the Kyuubi. She's dangerous."

"What the hell are you talking about? It's not like Hinata killed them," Naruto retorted.

The boy glared at Naruto. "What do you know? My parents died because of her after the Kyuubi was sealed. Because she's _weak_ and useless, and lets the Kyuubi kill other people. If she had just died and took the Kyuubi with her, my parents would still be alive."

Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing.

He thought back onto those cold, cruel looks the adults gave Hinata whenever they walked in the streets.

He thought back to the cruel whispering that the adults thought they couldn't hear.

He thought back to her bandaged hands that couldn't even grasp a spoon.

He thought back to how she still flinched when he touched her without warning.

Naruto tried to punch the boy in the face, but the boy dodged with infuriating ease.

"Hinata would never kill anyone, Kyuubi container or not," Naruto said through gritted teeth, not a single hint of doubt in his bright blue eyes. "So unless you saw her kill them with your own eyes, all I hear from you right now is utter bullshit."

* * *

Neji was furious. 

What did this outsider know? What could this outsider possibly know about anything in the Hyuuga clan? Of course it was _her_ fault, otherwise there would be no other possible reason for his parents' deaths.

He chose to ignore the total conviction in the blonde's eyes.

Neji's fingers twitched, and he contemplated the consequences of striking this boy with the Jyuuken. He forced himself to calm.

"You know nothing," Neji said, rage still simmering in his voice.

"I_ know_ Hinata. You don't." The blonde then turned and left.

* * *

"Did you know that the average human body contains about five litres of blood?" Mizuki said, his hand at the Hinata's throat. "I wonder how many litres you can still afford to lose." 

Hinata felt his fingers tighten around her neck, and she reflexively struggled, her body fighting to breathe. _…Is this the end?_

"I will kill you and I will avenge Tsubaki," Mizuki said, and Hinata could feel more crushing pressure on her throat.

The darkness closed in on her.

* * *

There was a knock on the door. 

Takako unlatched the door and looked outside.

"Are you Takako?" said a little girl about seven years old with red pigtails.

"…Yeah…" Takako said, mystified. "Who are you?"

"I'm Yanagi. Are these yours?" said the girl, holding out a stack of books wrapped in a worn jacket.

Takako's eyes widened. "They are…where did you get them?"

"Some lady in the woods told me to bring them to someone around her age called Takako. Said she was sorry she took them. Said you could throw away the jacket if you wanted to."

Takako was still rather shocked as she took the bundle from the little girl. "But how did you find me?"

The little girl shrugged. "I asked around. Some guy said there was a Takako who lived here."

"Um…well. Thank you."

The girl tilted her head with childish solemnness. "You're welcome. Bye bye."

The little girl with the red pigtails ran off into the streets and Takako was left standing in the doorway feeling bewildered.

* * *

Everything hurt. 

She was breathing.

She knew she was breathing because it hurt to breathe.

Hinata opened her eyes.

* * *

"You bastard!" Naruto yelled. "What the hell did you do to Hinata?" 

Mizuki picked himself up of the ground. "Che…I let this kid catch me off guard."

"What kind of screwed up teacher are you?" Naruto glared at Mizuki.

Mizuki sneered and reached into his waist pouch for a kunai. "Brat, what the hell do you know?" Mizuki said. "I'm only doing what nearly every adult in Konoha has thought of doing. I'm going to get revenge for what the Kyuubi did to the most important person in my life."

Mizuki twirled the kunai around his finger. "And if you get in my way, brat, I'll kill you too."

* * *

Naruto barely dodged the kunai as it whizzed past his shoulder, leaving a wide rip in his jacket. 

Hinata tried to force her voice past her throat. "N-Naruto…kun…" _Why are you here?_

"Don't worry, Hinata…I'm going to beat the crap out this guy and we'll get you to a hospital," Naruto said.

Mizuki snorted. "Two unarmed Academy brats against a Chuunin instructor? What an idiot."

"You shut the hell up!" Naruto yelled angrily. "I refuse to lose to assholes like you!"

Mizuki snarled, and before Naruto could react, the Chuunin had already appeared in front of Naruto, hauling him off the ground by the collar.

"Let go of me, you bastard," Naruto grunted, kicking out at Mizuki but his legs couldn't reach.

"No matter how you struggle, you're going to lose, you little runt," Mizuki hissed, and hurled Naruto across the clearing into a tree with a sickening thud.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried out, struggling to get to her feet but her hands refused to support her weight anymore.

Mizuki bent down and grabbed Hinata by the hair, forcing her head up with one hand, a kunai in the other.

* * *

Naruto could taste blood. And his back hurt. 

"_What do you know?"_

Naruto could feel the blood trickling out the corner of his mouth.

"_She__ has the Kyuubi sealed inside her."_

"_My parents died because of her."_

"_I'm only doing what nearly every adult in Konoha has thought of doing."_

"_I'm getting revenge for what the Kyuubi did to the most important person in my life."_

"I…believe in Hinata," Naruto murmured.

No matter how cutting the remarks, or how cold the gazes, Hinata had never been anything other than gentle.

"_G-g-gomen nasai!"_

"_I…um…s-sprained my hands."_

"_R-really, I'm okay."_

"…_Naruto-kun…"_

* * *

Blood dripped onto the grass. 

Mizuki was stunned.

"Don't lay a hand on Hinata," Naruto said through gritted teeth, forcing back Mizuki's kunai with his bare hand.

* * *

Mizuki's eyes widened. "You…" 

"I don't know…what the Kyuubi did to you…but Hinata had nothing to do with it," Naruto grunted, ignoring the pain in his hand even when the kunai's edges dug deeper. "And as if…I could lose…to assholes like you!"

Naruto tightened his grip on the kunai and wrenched it from Mizuki's grasp before kicking Mizuki squarely in the solar plexus.

Mizuki went down like a rock.

* * *

Naruto was now glad that Iruka had forced him to read those chakra control books. 

"_And if you call it 'chatora' instead of 'chakra' again, I'm going to double your homework!" Iruka yelled across the kitchen._

It had taken him two weeks to learn how to concentrate his chakra, but at least he could knock someone out rather than just knock the wind out of them.

He didn't know when the bastard would wake up though, so Naruto dragged Mizuki to a tree and rummaged through the man's ninja gear. Good, there was rope. Naruto tied Mizuki to the tree before stripping the Chuunin of all his ninja gear and scrolls. A folded picture fell out of one of the scroll holders. He unfolded it.

It was of Mizuki and a woman in a red and white dress. They were standing together, holding hands and smiling happily into the camera.

Naruto felt a moment of pity for the man he had knocked out. He folded the picture again and tucked it back inside Mizuki's vest before heading back to Hinata.

* * *

Hinata watched Naruto as he sank down onto the grass next to her. He opened Mizuki's ninja gear and found a roll of bandages somewhere at the bottom. 

"Give me your hands," Naruto said. "You're still bleeding, and we have to get you to the hospital."

Neither of them missed the fact that Naruto was still bleeding as well.

"…Why…" Hinata didn't know how to ask. "Why would you…if you know about…"

Naruto's blue eyes looked straight into hers. "Hinata is Hinata."

He smiled. "And Hinata is my friend."

Hinata hadn't realized she was crying until her hands stung from the salty tears falling on them.

* * *

Author's Notes: 

As always, please review :) Complaints and constructive criticisms are also welcome.


	6. Tide

Notes:

Eight or nine months since my last update, but if there's anyone still keeping tabs on this fic, I really, really appreciate it.

Another familiar character appears in this chapter, and not just for a cameo! He was only seen for a short number of episodes/chapters, but I'm sure you should all remember him. Now, without further ado, please enjoy!

**Chapter Six – Tide**

_-Once,_

_There was a man_

_Who lived in a great white house_

_With great white walls_

_And great white doors-_

_-Once,_

_There was a man_

_Who loved a woman_

_With snow-white skin_

_And eyes like clouds-_

_-Once,_

_The man loved the woman_

_So much so_

_When the woman_

_Gave her life_

_To their child_

_He threw the child_

_To the Wolves_

_And loved no more-_

Hinata's eyes drifted open into darkness. Had she died after all?

Her hands still stung. Apparently not.

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and she realized there was a warm weight near her left side. She turned her head slightly, the rest of her body feeling like concrete. Her eyes widened.

Naruto snored, fast asleep, his head cushioned on his folded arms near her left hand.

Even in the darkness, Naruto's hair almost glowed. Forcing her bandaged hand to move, she reached out just a little further and curled her finger against the tip of his bright yellow hair before slowly drifting off to sleep again.

* * *

Naruto paced irritably outside the treatment room, where he was spending most of his afternoons once school was over. Even though Hinata was not in critical condition anymore, her hands and some of the nerves and chakra veins in them were a mess. If Hinata still wanted to become a ninja, she'd have to take intensive rehabilitation to repair the damage.

Naruto knew how painful the treatment was. Hinata's cries of pain during the first session was more than enough, and it had gotten bad enough that they had her bite down into a towel so she wouldn't bite off her own tongue by accident. There was no anesthesia given, because Hinata had to be lucid during the process for them to measure just how functional her hands were.

Naruto wanted to keep her company during treatment, but she had insisted, in her own quiet way, that he couldn't keep skipping Academy classes.

So Naruto settled reluctantly for coming to the Konoha Hospital straight after school, wait for the session to finish, and then walk Hinata back to the Hyuuga compound.

Naruto deeply begrudged the fact that Hinata had to return to such a horrible place (the conversation with that angry, pale-eyed boy still echoed in the back of his mind), but Iruka had said that the Third Hokage was already investigating the case and there was no point in potentially creating extra friction with the Hyuuga clan until a decision was made.

* * *

"Are you okay, Hinata?" Naruto asked as he wiped the sweat off her face with a cloth, knowing that she'd be too shaky after the session to do it alone.

"H-hai…" she murmured, breathing heavily. "I'm okay now."

Like the past week of sessions, Naruto would then tell Hinata how boring the classes were, and how cool (or annoying) his classmates were, like that totally uncool surly looking kid with the hair that resembled a duck's ass who all the girls were squealing about, or the lazy one who got chalk thrown at him for sleeping in class.

And Hinata would smile and giggle a little at Naruto's exaggerated tales, and the trembling would stop. Hinata would be strong enough to get up, and they'd let the nurse on duty know Hinata was leaving for the day.

They'd walk together slowly, both trying to prolong the trip as much as possible as they walked past closing shops and people heading home for the day. Sometimes they'd stop by Ichiraku, and Teuchi-san would give them a little something to eat along the way, much to Naruto's delight.

The walk would end eventually though, and the walls of the Hyuuga compound would loom close enough that it was time for Hinata and Naruto to part for the day.

"Thanks for walking me home," Hinata said softly.

"No problem," Naruto said with his usual grin. "Take care of yourself while you're in there, yeah?"

Hinata nodded with a small smile. "I-I'll try," she said before turning towards the compound.

The breeze picked up slightly, with a whisper of the chill to come in the evening, and Hinata shivered a little. She was about to walk on when something thick and warm settled around her shoulders.

"We seriously need to get you a better jacket," Naruto said, making sure his orange jacket didn't slip off her shoulders and glaring at Hinata's flimsy Hyuuga hand-me-down. Even that old hooded jacket was better than this one, but Hinata must have lost it during the fight with Mizuki or something. "You can keep this one for now."

"B-but…what about you?" Hinata said, pale eyes wide.

"I'm fine, 'sides I've got another jacket at home," Naruto replied with a shrug. "In fact, tomorrow you should come over and pick one out from my closet if you don't like orange, I mean, most girls don't really go for orange…"

Hinata almost reeled a little at Naruto's kindness. She had never been offered a choice like that at the Hyuuga compound; she was simply given something and expected to appreciate that she was given anything at all.

"I-I couldn't impose like that," she began, but Naruto cut her off.

"Hinata, it's okay," Naruto said firmly, before he started rambling. "Though…you'll have to put up with the orange jacket for tonight at least, since we wouldn't have time to grab something you like from my house, but it should be okay – the jacket doesn't stink or anything does it? I mean, it was washed yesterday and I didn't really sweat today, I'm pretty sure…"

Hinata felt herself having one of those inexplicable moments where she wanted to reach out and cry, one of those moments when warmth and some emotion she didn't quite understand welled up inside her so much it was threatening to overflow.

"Thank you." It was Hinata's turn to cut Naruto off this time, her freshly bandaged hands gripping the edges of his jacket as tightly as she could in her current state.

"I…" She wasn't quite sure how to express herself, and struggled to find the words to say how meeting him, his jacket, everything about him, meant more than the world to her. "This…I…"

"Hinata-sama."

Those five syllables chilled her to the bone.

* * *

"No missions, sir?"

"No, I had something different in mind for you this time," the Third Hokage said solemnly from his desk. "For a ninja of your caliber I suppose it could seem insulting, but I would like to assign you to a post as Academy teacher for the remaining school year."

There was a short silence punctuated by several raspy coughs from the young man the Hokage was speaking to.

"May I enquire as to why I was chosen?"

"I'm sure word has gotten around regarding Mizuki's transgressions. He has been relieved of his teaching post and his class needs a new teacher. Unfortunately the other Chuunin teachers have their hands full with their own classes, and there's one particular student I have in mind that I would prefer to have in good hands."

Another round of coughs later - "The Kyuubi child, sir?"

"Hyuuga Hinata, yes."

"Surely," the young man coughed again, "there are other capable, unoccupied Chuunin who are able to keep an eye on her?"

The Third Hokage's grandfatherly smile gave nothing away. "I have my reasons. And you wouldn't refuse an old man like me, would you, Hayate?"

* * *

Hinata could barely hear anything beyond the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.

She barely remembered what happened before she was led, no, followed back into the Hyuuga compound, those hate-filled eyes boring into her back, Naruto's voice fading behind her.

She only remembered the chill of returning into the house in which those gazes of scorn, fear, and hatred could reach through walls.

She rested her forehead on her knees, her hands still tightly gripping the bright orange jacket around her shoulders, the only thing fighting away the icy darkness of her empty room. "Naruto-kun," she whispered.

If only dawn could come sooner.

* * *

"It is a great honor to have the Hokage-sama come in person to visit the Hyuuga clan," said Hyuuga Hiashi as he bowed to greet the Third Hokage.

The Third Hokage waved off further formality, the complete lack of his usual mirth in his expression an indication of how serious this conversation was going to be.

When Hyuuga Hiashi had made himself comfortable, the Third Hokage began to speak.

"I will make this brief, Hiashi. I am officially removing Hyuuga Hinata from the care of the Hyuuga clan and putting her under the care of Umino Iruka."

Hyuuga Hiashi's eyes widened slightly and he looked even more solemn than ever. "I'm afraid that is not possible. The council will not agree."

That sentence spoke volumes to the Third Hokage of just what kind of care Hinata had been subjected to.

"I have already spoken to you about this, Hiashi. The medical ninja team has already informed me on Hinata's condition. Physical injuries from the Mizuki case aside, her medical records have indicated an increasing level of malnutrition and stunted growth compared to children her age."

"She was always a sickly child, from the time she was born," Hiashi replied almost harshly, his pale eyes darkening slightly.

"I will not and cannot allow such disrespect for the child that bears the sacrifice of the Fourth Hokage," said the Third Hokage, his brow creasing sternly. "Do you not recall his last words to you, Hiashi? The Fourth did not sacrifice himself to save the village only to have the Hyuuga clan slowly destroy the child that embodies his will."

"She carries the Byakugan gene, as incapable of activating it as she is. She cannot be allowed to leave the Hyuuga clan," Hiashi argued. "We cannot even seal those genes with the Juinjutsu as it will interfere with the seal on the Kyuubi. She cannot leave."

"I am not here to ask for permission, Hiashi. I am informing you. Hinata will be under the care of Umino Iruka until she is of legal age as an official adult, or if she decides to return to the Hyuuga clan," the Third Hokage said firmly.

Hiashi was beginning to become rather incensed. "Excuse me, but even if you're the Hokage, you cannot disrespect the Hyuuga clan and endanger clan secrets! Not to mention you could be delivering Konoha's strongest Bloodline Limit into enemy hands if she is caught by other villages!"

"If that happens, I will take complete responsibility," declared the Third Hokage. "Or are you dissatisfied with the vow of a Hokage?"

Hiashi twitched, his irate expression deepening. He knew that this argument could not be won, especially if the Third Hokage gave his word, which was more binding than a law itself. "Then the Hyuuga clan is not liable in any way for the child's misconduct, debts or wellbeing."

The Third Hokage had an urge to say a biting remark at the fact that the Hyuuga clan had never allowed themselves to be liable for it anyway. Antagonizing the Hyuuga clan this much was enough for today. The Third Hokage rose from his seat.

"I will be sending the formal documentation regarding this matter within the week," said the Third. "However, the order is effective immediately. Have a good night."

* * *

"Taiin omedetou!" cheered Iruka and Naruto, raising their cups of sake and tea, respectively. "Kanpai!"

"K-kanpai," Hinata said, raising her own cup of tea to join the toast, with the happiest smile she had had in weeks.

The three of them were celebrating Hinata's full recovery, which had taken exactly three days in the Intensive Care Unit, plus another four weeks to completely reconstruct and rehabilitate her lye-eaten hands. The scars on Hinata's hands would never disappear, but the specialist in charge of Hinata's therapy had reassured them that Hinata's hands were fully functional.

Not to mention that she was finally free from the Hyuuga compound.

"Naruto, stop stealing all the meat!" Iruka said, grabbing Naruto's chopsticks between his own. Hinata sweatdropped as the two started yet another showdown trying to force each other's chopsticks away from the bubbling hot pot.

"What are you talking about, Iruka-sensei? I've barely had any meat at all!" Naruto said, lying through his teeth.

"Naruto, eat more vegetables!"

"I don't wanna eat the vegetables!"

Hinata laughed quietly to herself as she scooped up the meat with her own chopsticks and putting some in both their bowls. Iruka and Naruto promptly looked sheepish.

"See, Iruka-sensei, look how uncool you're making us. You should've just let me take the meat," Naruto said, sticking his tongue out at Iruka.

"As if! You're hogging all the meat when Hinata-chan has barely had any," Iruka retorted as he took some more meat from the hot pot and gave it to Hinata, who hurriedly stuttered her thanks.

"I-it's okay," Hinata said, sweatdropping again when Naruto looked like he'd been told he kicked a puppy.

* * *

_-Once,_

_There was a man_

_Who lived in a great white house_

_With great white walls_

_And great white doors-_

_Crimson pain._

_-Once,_

_There was a man_

_Who loved a woman_

_With snow-white skin_

_And eyes like clouds-_

"_Give him back! Give him back!"_

_-Once,_

_The man loved the woman_

_So much so_

_When the woman_

_Gave her life_

_To their child_

_He threw the child_

_To the Wolves_

_And loved no more-_

"_Die! Why won't you just die!"_

_Pale eyes._

_Orange flames and dancing cinders. A familiar growl and screams of horror._

Hinata's eyes snapped open and she turned her head to look at the clock. Her clock was gone.

Then she remembered where she was.

She rolled over slightly in her futon, so much more warm and comfortable than her old, ratty futon at home. The blanket wrapped around her too, was much thicker, softer, and warmer. Like sleeping on a cloud.

She watched contentedly as Naruto twitched and snored in his sleep one tatami mat away, his blanket bunched in strange places from all his movement.

Naruto always slept deeply no matter where he was, Hinata had noticed. It didn't matter whether he was sleeping in a plastic chair or a fluffy bed or on the floor. He never had nightmares and nothing bothered him enough to disturb his sleep. Naruto slept like he lived – simple, noisily, without pretense.

It didn't bother Naruto that he slept ungracefully, or drooled onto his sleeping surface. Even in sleep he was vibrant, never completely still or quiet. He radiated warmth and comfort.

Hinata deeply envied Naruto. She could never sleep so peacefully, without fear or doubt or cold creeping into her mind like the utter darkness that no light from the building windows could ever penetrate. Her rooms at the Hyuuga compound had been carefully selected to be isolated, out of the way, away from the other Hyuuga household members.

Her meals had always been standard servant meals, and always served after everyone else so by then it would have gone cold. Grilled fish, rice, miso soup and perhaps some vegetables or fruit. The tray would have been left outside her door by some hapless young maid being punished, scared witless from having to venture into the lair of the monster child, to be collected later. The only reason they still served her food for her was so that she didn't touch anything in the kitchen.

For the rest of the time between meals, Hinata had always been left to her own devices, and any innocent request for a toy or a companion had quickly been crushed and never again attempted after she turned six.

The only thing worse than the dark and the cold and the nightmares was the crushing waves of loneliness. She had been so desperate for anything to break the utter silence in her rooms she had mostly eavesdropped on any and all the conversations she could possibly listen into amongst the Branch family servants.

Gossip and hushed whispers were her only education. No one had bothered to teach her to read and write. After all, 'that child' would never amount to anything, so why waste the effort? Hinata had remained illiterate and ignorant until she had reached the age for compulsory pre-ninja academy schooling.

Her teachers had been appalled; whether by her illiteracy or the fact that they were teaching the dreaded Kyuubi child wasn't clear. Perhaps both. She had learnt how to read and write, but continued to remain a failure in her class as she never had the books and the teachers pretended they didn't see her timidly raised hand until Hinata learned again that she was wasted effort.

"Hinata?" Naruto waved his hand at Hinata, pulling her out from her thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm okay," she said softly, getting up and starting to fold her bedding to be put away. "Good morning."

* * *

When Hinata made her way to her classroom, she felt a little apprehensive. She had missed class for almost five weeks, and she still didn't have the books, because she hadn't told anyone about the reason Mizuki had started putting her in detention in the first place.

Naruto and Iruka had already given her so much, she couldn't bring herself to ask.

Would this new teacher be angry too? Would she be punished for that yet again? She forced herself to stop trembling as she slid the door open.

Many pairs of eyes swiveled her way, and many of them widened as they realized it was 'that girl', the one who parents warned not to speak to, and the one who got attacked by Mizuki-sensei.

Whispers soon spread like a stain on paper as Hinata made her way to the back of the room, the back bench she usually sat at devoid of other students.

A few minutes later, the sliding door slid open again, and a sickly-looking young man came in.

* * *

Gekkou Hayate made a habit out of observing things.

Be it people, animals, battles or techniques, he liked standing aside and observing it.

So out of habit, he gave the room of students a once-over with his eyes, as he had done for the past few weeks of his being assigned to teach this Academy class.

He had never particularly liked children (or teaching, for that matter), but he was good at remembering things about the people he'd met. Familiar faces stared back at him, used to seeing his unhealthy disposition by now.

Well, except for one. A small, pale-eyed girl with dark bangs covering most of her face was sitting completely alone at the back corner of the room, the bench completely to herself, fidgeting.

_So that's__ the Kyuubi child_, Hayate thought, as he began to cough.

"Class will now begin," he said when the coughs subsided, "please pay attention to the blackboard."

* * *

Author's Notes:

As always, reviews are highly appreciated :) Complaints and constructive criticisms are also welcome.


	7. Purpose

Notes:

For some reasons my chapters are getting longer and longer. Apparently they're running away with me. But anyway, please review? I've got people putting me on Alerts and Favorites without giving me a single review. Flattering yet kind of sad at the same time, don't you think?

Anyway, many thanks to those who did review, I really appreciate it. Now, without further ado, please enjoy.

**Chapter Seven – Purpose**

Hayate cleared his throat. "Today we will be learning Bunshin no Jutsu. Bunshin no Jutsu is one of the few foundation techniques that should be in every shinobi's arsenal. This technique creates a number of clones of the user in order to confuse their opponent. However, it has some major weaknesses. Can anyone tell me what they are?"

A young girl with dark red hair raised her hand.

"Hino Matsuri," Hayate said between coughs, "you may answer."

"The weaknesses of Bunshin no Jutsu are that the clones are not tangible and cannot make contact with physical surfaces like grass or rocks like a real person. Because of this, a ninja with a trained eye can easily figure out which clone is actually the real person."

"That is correct," Hayate said with a quick nod at the red-haired girl. "Now can someone else tell me what the hand seals are in order to perform this technique?"

Nanahara Takeshi raised his hand promptly. Hayate coughed again and nodded at Nanahara to continue.

"Tiger, Boar, Ox, Dog."

Hayate waited for his coughing fit to pass before nodding again. "Very good. Now has anyone here successfully performed this jutsu?"

Nanahara's hand shot up again, looking extremely proud of himself. "I'm able to make three clones; on some days I can make a fourth one."

"As if," sneered Mizuno Renji from four places away. "Know it all."

"Yeah! As if you've already been able to use Bunshin no Jutsu! We've barely gotten past Kawarimi no Jutsu," said the girl sitting next to Mizuno.

"Just because you're stupid doesn't mean the rest of us have to be," Nanahara said with a nonchalant shrug.

"I dare you to say that again, you little teacher's pet!"

"You are stupid," Nanahara said, deadpan.

The indignant girl launched herself at Nanahara, the two beginning to brawl - shouting, hair-pulling and kicking at whatever they could reach.

Hayate sighed, still coughing a little, thinking vaguely at the back of his head that this scenario was repeating itself entirely too often, like last week. And the week before.

_Kids_, he thought with some exasperation. If they were going to fight, they should at least try to fight like ninjas.

* * *

Hinata fidgeted as she half-watched the fight between the other students. The finals were looming ever closer, and she was falling behind. Far behind. Not that she wasn't always falling behind to begin with, but if she wanted to graduate with Naruto, she had to catch up. And if she was lucky enough, maybe she could be in the same Genin team as Naruto.

She knew most of the other students in her class already knew how to use Kawarimi no Jutsu and Nawanuke no Jutsu, because she failed miserably in the quiz the week before.

How could she hope to graduate like this?

The lunch bell rang, pulling Hinata out of her thoughts. The other students were making a mad rush for the door, and even the ones who were fighting took a temporary ceasefire so they could make the most of the 45-minute lunch break.

Hinata waited till everyone had left the room, and stood up to leave as well.

"Hyuuga-kun," said the teacher's raspy voice.

Hinata froze. Her brain immediately tried to remember what she had done wrong. It wouldn't be books, could it? He hadn't said anything about the absence of her textbooks ever since she'd returned to the Academy; surely he would have noticed and said something before now? Or maybe it was just a test and she'd be punished severely for not owning up to it herself?

"Hyuuga-kun."

* * *

"Hyuuga-kun," Hayate repeated himself, watching the flash of panic on the child's face.

The pale-eyed child looked ready to flee at any opportunity to do so. Hayate didn't think he was that scary, so either Mizuki had seriously traumatized the kid, or…this behavior extended much further back. Hayate coughed violently and waited for the fit to pass, not missing the child's subtle instinctive flinch.

"Hyuuga-kun, stop panicking," he said as he cleared his throat, deciding not to beat around the bush. "I need to discuss something with you."

* * *

"Once there was a man who lived in a great white house, with great white doors, and great white walls," chanted a little boy as he hopped on one foot between winding lines of faded paint.

"Once there was man who loved a woman, with snow white skin, and eyes like clouds," chanted the little girl behind him, hopping on her other foot as she followed the first little boy.

"Once the man loved the woman so much so, when the woman gave her life," said another little boy, "to their child, he threw the child to the Wolves-"

"And loved no more!" said the first two children in unison as they reached the last gap between the painted lines.

"Hikaru, Hikari, Higusa!" said a young woman from the verandah behind them. "Lunch is almost ready, so go and wash your hands."

"Okay!" said all three of them in unison and they started heading over into the direction of the washroom.

"Make sure you hurry up or the food will get cold!"

The three quickened their small steps a little, stomachs growling as if on cue.

"Aw, why does the bathroom have to be so far away?" the little girl complained.

"Well there's another bathroom we could use," said the older of the two boys, Hikaru, with a mischievous look on his face.

"What are you talking about?" asked the other boy, Higusa. "When was there another bathroom on this side of the compound?"

"The one that no one else uses, you know," Hikaru's voice dropped to a whisper, "The one that's in the 'demon's corridor'."

"Hikaru, we can't use that one! We'd get into so much trouble if they caught us," hissed Hikari. "No one's allowed to go into that corridor!"

"That's the _point_," said Hikaru, "no one goes there so we won't get caught! And it's not as far as the other bathroom so we'll get back heaps quicker."

"But isn't it haunted?" Higusa said with a slight shiver. "That's what Hisame-neesan said; remember when she had to go down there to clean up because she broke one of Hiashi-sama's special cups? She said she heard the demon moving around in the corridor and _moaning_, and she was so scared she begged not to be sent down there anymore."

"Hisame-neesan is scared of everything," said Hikaru dismissively. "It's not like anything can actually _haunt_ this place, the adults have the Byakugan, and they see everything."

"Yes, _everything_," Hikari said with another hiss, "including through _walls_, so they could easily see us wandering around the demon's corridor."

Hikaru refused to concede it was a good point and decided to just humph in annoyance.

"Well I'm still going to go use that one, because I'm not a scaredy-cat like you two," Hikaru said, before sticking his tongue out and heading the opposite way. "By the time you come back, I'd have eaten all the meatballs, bleh!"

"Hikaru, don't be a jerk!" Hikari said indignantly, not sure whether to follow him and smack him or just leave him to his devices and hope he didn't get caught. "He's such an idiot."

"Should we go after him?" Higusa said worriedly, his hand rubbing at his bandaged forehead unconsciously. "What if he gets caught? And Hiashi-sama has been in a bad mood lately, because of the elders…"

Hikari grumbled under her breath as she tried to make a decision. "Stupid Hikaru," she muttered, "if we all get caught I'm gonna punch him in the face before we all get our brains fried to mush."

Hikari grabbed Higusa's hand. "Come on, we're gonna go with him."

* * *

Hayate led Hinata into a semi-secluded courtyard area that was rarely used by students. It was quiet enough that they could talk one-on-one but open enough that the child could feel slightly less threatened.

Hayate chose to seat himself one of the taller rocks framing the courtyard. "Please take a seat," he said with another cough, gesturing towards a bench a few feet away.

The child did so, still looking a little jumpy.

"Hyuuga-kun," he began, "what I wanted to discuss with you today is your Academy progress."

The panicked look was returning to her face again, and Hayate refrained from sighing. He really didn't like dealing with delicate children. It required patience, and interaction. For an observer like him, it was not an ideal situation.

"I'll be straightforward with you. You are falling behind. Last week everyone was able to perform the Kawarimi no Jutsu, except for you."

The child almost visibly shrunk back from his words, and lowered her head with a miserable yet resigned look on her face, as if she'd heard this many, many times before.

Hayate wondered how the Third Hokage ever thought this would be a good idea.

"Okay…let's go about this a different way," Hayate said after a moment. "Why do you want to become a ninja?"

* * *

"What do you mean; she can't hang out with us?" Naruto scowled.

"My parents will ground me for months if they caught me playing with her," said a tall girl with long dark hair tied back into a side ponytail.

"Yeah, and she's so weird, she can't even talk right," said the boy standing next to her with a blue bandana around his forehead.

"Seriously she talks like this – 'S-s-s-sorry, m-may I p-p-p-p-please b-b-b-borrow a p-p-p-pencil?' Talk about slow, man," added another boy who had spiky red hair as he mimicked Hinata's stutter.

Naruto clenched his fist.

"Whoever said the Hyuuga clan are elite need to seriously get their facts straight, I mean, I heard that she couldn't even use the Nawanuke no Jutsu properly. Like that's just beyond pathetic-"

Naruto's fist connected with Akagi's nose with a loud crack, eliciting noises of shock from the other kids.

"Don't you dare talk about her like that! You don't know shit about what she's been through!" Naruto yelled. "You and your parents making fun of her behind her back, whispering like cowards, when she hasn't given you one damn reason to dislike her!"

He grabbed Akagi by the collar. "So what if she talks funny? I can name three hundred things that could be wrong about all of you!"

A shadow loomed behind Naruto. "Alright, break it up now."

* * *

"Why do you want to become a ninja?"

The question threw her thoughts off balance.

"B-because…" she whispered before she realized she didn't have an answer.

Hinata stared at the grass under her feet.

Why _was_ she here?

She had never thought about it. What was her reason for being here?

She thought back.

School…had always been a reason to get out of that place, that house, that room of overwhelming darkness. It wasn't though the people outside hated her any less, but it was the lesser of two evils.

But now, she was free of that place until she was an adult. Did she really want to become a ninja? She had enrolled because Naruto was enrolling, so the decision only seemed natural at the time…

"Maybe you should quit." His raspy voice was quiet but jarring in its honesty.

Hinata looked up.

"If you don't have the desire to become a ninja, there's no point struggling here. There are other career options in Konoha."

Hayate started to cough again, but he held her gaze as he stood up to leave.

"Think about it."

* * *

Hinata continued to stare at the grass under her feet for the afternoon, ignoring the bell as it rang shrilly, signaling the end of lunch.

_Maybe you should quit._

_If you don't have the desire to become a ninja, there's no point struggling here._

Naruto-kun…she just wanted to be beside him.

The afternoon sun warmed her back. The sun…he was like a radiant sun that breathed life into everything around him and chased away the darkness.

But did she really want to become a ninja? She lived with Naruto, a blessing she could never be thankful enough for, but she wasn't even in the same class, so it wasn't as if she would lose her time with him.

She continued to think until the sun hovered lower in the sky, and she made her way towards the swing outside the playground, where she'd always meet with Naruto after school.

Would he be disappointed in her if she quit?

* * *

The three of them were caught red-handed.

Much to their relief, it was only Neji.

"What were you three doing over there?" he said, raising an eyebrow at the guilty looks on their faces.

They thought about lying, but Neji's stern look at them eliminated that option.

"Well, we were just trying to take a shortcut," mumbled Hikaru.

"Shortcut? To where?" Neji asked.

"Well, the proper bathroom is really far away," Hikaru said, while rubbing the back of his neck, "so I wanted to use the other one, where the adults don't let us go, because it's closer."

"Hikaru," Neji sighed. Hikaru was too curious and energetic for his own good. More often than not he'd get scolded for poking his nose into something he shouldn't. But Neji couldn't bring himself to get mad at the mischievous little boy.

Hikaru had a spirit that still managed to be cheerful despite being born into the Branch family. But someday, that spirit would flicker under the weight of his destiny, and most likely, go out entirely. He was out of place among the heavy, restricted, and servile atmosphere of Branch family members.

Branch family members knew their place very well, the symbol of it branded into their foreheads forever. Neji had been present every time a Branch child returned from the Main house, foreheads wrapped in bandages, crying pitifully from the pain.

He felt it was his duty to care for every single Branch family member, as his father did. Everyone in the Branch family who knew his father had good things to say about him, and Neji clung onto every memory he still had of his parents, before they died when he was four years old.

Killed because of the Kyuubi. Killed because of Hinata.

Because the Branch was expendable. That was their purpose. Their destiny.

The bitter rage threatened to swell again, and he forced himself not to think about it.

"Hikaru, next time, just use the proper washroom, okay?" Neji said, patting Hikaru gently on the head.

For as long as they possibly could, he wanted them to avoid the attention of the Main house.

* * *

"Your hand…" Hinata said in concern when she saw the bandages wrapped around his knuckles.

"Oh, this is nothing," Naruto said with a sheepish grin. "Don't worry about it."

* * *

Iruka waited until Hinata was asleep in the next room before he asked.

"I heard from the other teachers that you were fighting with Akagi-kun today."

Naruto lay down on his back to stare at the ceiling. "Yeah, I broke his nose."

"Why?" Iruka asked.

"Akagi was making fun of Hinata. And so were his friends. I got really angry and hit him in the face and yelled at him," Naruto said with a heavy calmness, stretching his injured hand in front of him and staring at the bandages.

They were both silent for a while.

"Ne, Iruka-sensei?"

"Hm?"

"How can people be so mean to other people?" Naruto turned his head to look at Iruka, looking uncharacteristically serious and disappointed. "How can the same people, who laugh and smile at me doing stupid things and give me candy and play catch with me, be so mean to Hinata?"

Iruka paused and started staring at the ceiling too.

"What's mean to someone may not be mean to someone else. Maybe to someone else, it seems justified. Everyone sees things differently to someone else, and sometimes, people just can't see past their pain. The pain of losing people they care about can make people bitter, angry, and vengeful. They can't see past the demon fox that stole the lives of their loved ones. They can't see Hinata and her pain."

Naruto flexed his bandaged hand in front of him again, frowning a little.

"Then I'm just gonna have to be an even better Hokage than I was going to be," he said.

"Huh? I don't follow."

Naruto grinned. "I'm going to surpass all the Hokage and protect everyone so well that no one will lose the people they care about, and then no one will need to treat anyone else the way they did to Hinata."

Iruka blinked. Then he began to laugh.

"You're such a kid," said the brown-haired Chuunin, ruffling Naruto's hair fondly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto pouted, and Iruka laughed all the more.

"You'll be a great Hokage. Now go to sleep so you'll be up on time for class tomorrow."

"Aww, fine," Naruto grumbled, and got up from the floor to go into the room he and Hinata shared. He stepped lightly so he wouldn't wake Hinata and pulled his blanket up over himself as he settled onto his futon.

It took him all of ten seconds to start snoring, and he hadn't noticed Hinata's fingers clenching her pillow so tightly her knuckles turned white.

* * *

The bench at the back of the class was empty the next day.

Hayate wondered if his mission would be considered a failure if the Kyuubi child decided to quit the Academy.

Oh well.

Being a ninja was much more difficult than simply memorizing some techniques, after all. If she didn't really want to become a ninja, then it was better that she quit.

He cleaned off the blackboard with one hand and coughed into the other. At least today was over.

There was a soft knock on the door.

Or maybe not.

He put the blackboard eraser back on the ledge. "Come in."

"Well, this is a surprise," Hayate said with another cough as the door slid open slowly.

He had only seen her the day before, but she looked different.

She stood a little taller and she looked him in the eye even as her hands trembled.

"Have you thought of your answer?" he asked.

* * *

"I…" Hinata began, clenching her fingers into her palms, scars pressing against scars.

_"My dream is to become Hokage!"_

_" I want to become strong, so I can protect the people that are important to me."_

"I want to become a ninja."

_"…Hinata is my friend."_

"I want to graduate."

_"I'm going to surpass all the Hokage and protect everyone…then no one will need to treat anyone else the way they did to Hinata."_

"Please tutor me."

* * *

Author's Notes:

As always, reviews are highly appreciated :) Complaints and constructive criticisms are also welcome.


End file.
